The touch of the truth
by lhughes
Summary: Detective Dunham's partner was shot and she has to start working with a new detective. After a while she finds out that the crimes she was investigating are much more than just a serie of murders, and even her temporary partner is not who he seems to be.
1. Chapter 1

A temporary partner

It was almost 10 p.m., and instead of being home with his wife, Thomas Herz was very nervous as a detective from New York walked in his office demanding to investigate a crime that belong to one of his detectives. Recently this detective of his had almost lost her partner in a shooting and it would be obviously too much for her to handle if he just cut her off this especific case.

After a long and exhausting conversation between the men, Thomas agreed that he would put his young detective to work with the visitor until Jonathan, her partner, recovered from his wound. Maybe she would be angry anyway, but that was the best option. The detective from New York had worked with crimes they believed were connected to the case they had now.

Mr. Northman had come from New York on his own, just because he needed that case. He needed to have it solved as soon as possible. The agents from Rhode Island had no idea where they were getting into. He knew. He knew how big the case was and how dangerous it could become. That was the only reason he actually chose to pretend he was a detective. Northman would rather work on his own, but decided to accept Herz's girl as a temporary partner. He doubted she would be smart enough to deal with everything, though. That made him pissed off, but he knew there wouldn't be another way. It was to be a detective next to a young and defenseless partner, or to reveal himself and find things out as what he really is.

...

Mila Dunham left the hospital feeling terrible about everything. Two hours ago, she had been in a shooting, chasing a very dangerous murderer and her partner, Jonathan, had been shot in the back and needed a surgery immediately. No one could tell if he were going to make it or not.

Mila was only 25 years old. The youngest and least experienced detective in her department. Jonathan was almost twice her age and had taught her everything she knows. He had never underestimated her. The only one to be sure that she was a good professional and trusting her without hesitating. Now he was laying on that hospital bed and she couldn't help feeling guilty.

The young detective only headed back to the Station when the doctor said there was nothing else to do. The first surgery would last hours, and she still needed to catch the man who did this to her partner.

"Detective Dunham," Her boss, Thomas Herz, called her as soon as she stepped out of the elevator. He was tall, bald, and always had exhausted eyes, which suggested that he was probably working too much. "I'm sure you know how dangerous this man is." He said with his deep voice, obviously referring to the murderer who got away after shooting her partner. Thomas smiled nervously when he saw Dunham and led her from the elevator to his office, where a man was sitting, impatiently waiting for them to come.

Mila Dunham was nodding automatically as her boss orally reviewed the new evidences of the shooting. Apparently, the murderer, that did not have a name yet, had escaped by car and headed to the north of the city. The police would check the traffic cameras and look for new directions, but all Mila could think about was Jonathan and his surgery.

"I'm _fine_." She assured when Thomas offered her some water. She secretly knew how she didn't look fine at all. They were sitting in Thomas' office with the strange third man that had not said a single word. She checked her watch and noticed it was almost midnight. That was why the police department was so empty, and why she wanted to go home so badly. She needed some time on her own.

"You are not. You are in shock." Mila would never be more stubborn than her boss. "You will need another part-" Thomas could not finished her sentence as she left the room, childishly slamming the door. He followed her in large steps and managed to put himself in front of her. "I am _sorry _for what happened to Jonathan, but you cannot work on your own."

"You are wrong. I _will_ work alone." Dunham said relutanctly, but her boss just narrowed his eyes and threatened of just what she was expecting him to "Do not forget who is the boss, Dunham. I will put you out of this case if you don't agree to work with him." He glared at the third man, that at that point had followed both Mila and Thomas out of the office. Herz was very and truly worried about his detective's emotional state. He definitely knew how much she cared about Jonathan.

"Who is he?" She had never seen that guy before. He was broad shouldered and incredibly in shape. He wore a nice suit and his short blond hair was perfectly combed. He was a handsome guy, but she would much rather work with the old man she had known for all her career.

"Detective Eric Northman." The man spoke himself and Mila Dunham heard his voice for the first time. He intended to shake hands, but it never happened. She just raised one eyebrow and stated "I've never heard of you."

"I come from New York City. I've investigated some murders and it turns out we are looking for the same killer." The guy had an accent, but Mila could not recognize it. She rolled her eyes. "We are not working together. I have a partner already."

Thomas glared scolding her, like he was silently asking her to behave. "I'm leaving, Dunham, you'd better make up your mind now. Like I said, you can either work with Mr. Northman or stay out of the investigation. It's your choice. Good night." The boss took his backpack and left the office. He sounded determined, but deep inside he was still worried about what his detective was going to do.

"Oh, great. Alright, you win, boss, just know that now I have a reason to hate you." Mila spoke out loud so he could hear her as he left. She was vexed, but she was never afraid of her boss. She knew him since she was starting her career. They generally had a good relationship, but sometimes she felt like Thomas wanted to protect her too much from everything. If it weren't for Jonathan, she would've never had the chance of working outside the office.

Thomas went home first and Mila had to leave the building with Mr. Northman, and it was a very cold October night. The young detective was dressed in her warm clothes, even though she could not actually feel the cold. She was born with a rare sensory neuropathy that didn't let her have the sense of touch. That means she can't feel anything on her skin. That also means she had an impressive resistence while fighting the bad guys. However, she needed medical exams every month to check if she were okay. Mila would never know it without the exams, because no pain would alert her.

Thomas went home relieved that everything had been not as bad as he expected. Mila, on the other hand, was very uncomfortable when she realized she was now alone with Eric Northman. She just felt like she needed to apologize. If he were going to be her temporary partner, it was now time to make amends. "Look, detective Northman, I'm sure you are a good professional, I just wish I didn't have to work with anyone but Jonathan. Especially under these circumstances."

"I understand you, detective Dunham, but since we have no choice, we could work together and try not to make it so..." He paused and looked at her sorrowful green eyes "painful."

She knew he was right, it was the best to be done. "Damn, you're right. Just call me Mila, okay?"

"Eric." He smiled and this time they shook hands. They were both wearing gloves, and Mila did not bother to take them off, she would not feel his hand anyway. Eric, on the other hand, found it curious that she did not hold his hand properly while shaking it. He just assumed she was still uncomfortable by being around him.

...

They both drove home, and Mila woke up at 10 a.m. with her phone ringing. She picked up and was devastated when her boss told her Jonathan was in a coma. She headed to the hospital and laid next to him all day. Mila was almost always assigned to the night shifts, but her phone did not stop ringing that day. She did not pick up any call, though, and only left the hospital when Eric met her there in the evening at six something.

"I don't know if you heard, but the guy just killed another woman." It was the first thing he said.

"Good evening, Eric." She said with a cup of coffee on her hand and staring at the empty corridor.

"We have to go, his name is Christian Bauer and we have an address to check. He will probably be in there, so when we arrive I'll call for back up." Eric gave her the instructions very fast, but it was not like she was listening to him at all.

"Jonathan is in a coma." She whispered still staring at nothing.

"Not now, Mila. We have to go." The blond detective insisted and Dunham just stood up and pushed him as hard as she possibly could. A surprinsinly violent reaction against somebody she barely knew. Eric was taken by surprise, so he stepped backwards confused.

"I will go, then." The girl snarled as she walked away without looking back to see Eric's smirk.

The apartment was empty, but they were able to find lots of evidence. Bloody clothes, possibly Christian's DNA and even a gun they believed was used in one of the crimes. The guys from forensic would have lots of work during the following weeks.

The detectives spent almost an hour analyzing the scene and discussing what happened. They concluded Christian had left because he knew the police was coming. However, it was not possible to know how he found out about it. Mila was exhausted when they left the place. She sat in Eric's car – he had given her a ride from the hospital – and rested her head on the closed window. It was only nine on her watch. She closed her eyes and heard Eric start the car.

"You look awful." He said but she did not even open her eyes.

"Thanks. Now, let's go back to the Station." Mila demanded, although she actually wanted to go back to the hospital and be next to Jonathan again. Her former partner didn't have a family. His wife had died five years ago. Mila was the only visit he had.

"No, you need to eat." Eric scolded, and she groaned in protest. She wouldn't change his mind, so she just decided to do as he said. They went to a Café that Mila always thought was too expensive and he bought her a big sandwich and a cup of coffee.

"Aren't _you_ going to eat?" She asked trying to sound angry, but Eric could see how she was actually grateful.

"No, I'm fine." Mila felt his surly tone, and decided it was time to treat him a bit better. After all, he had nothing to do with Jonathan's situation. They really had to work together. It reminded her of the previous night and what Eric had said to her before leaving the Station.

The food was great and they had a nice chat. Eric did not talk about Mila's partner, except when he apologized the way he had taken her from the hospital. At some point, Mila was gesticulating and accidentally dropped her coffee all over the table and on her hand.

"Hey!" An employee promptly got to her table with a towel to clean things up. "Your hand!" He pointed at the burned hand. Her snow white skin was all red. It _should have_ hurt a lot.

"What?" Mila looked at the employee confused and then at Eric, who had an eyebrow raised. The temporary partner was just interested in everything that was happening.

"You burned your hand, doesn't it hurt? You can wash it in the restroom if you want." Mila looked at her bruise trying her best to look surprised and walked to the restroom. When she got back, Eric was talking on the phone. A second later, her own phone started ringing.

"Dunham." As she listened to her boss, she quickly started to grab her stuff and leave. Eric followed her and now they had to head south. Police had found Christian's car. He could not have gone too far from there. This time Eric was confident that he would finally find him.

"You didn't seem to care about your burned hand, but it does look bad, Mila." Although Eric was driving fast, it was still a rainy night and the traffic was not helping very much.

"I'm fine, I can't feel it." The woman avoided looking at him. She did not like to discuss about her condition with anybody. However, she knew that sooner or later Eric would find out about it. Her co-workers were already aware of it and Eric was spending too much time around her. Not having the sense of touch was something hard to hide, so it was just a matter of time.

"I forgot you are a tough detective." Eric was almost smiling, but Mila just rested her head on the window trying to relax and looked at the people walking on the streets instead. When Eric suddenly realized that that was not what she meant, he just asked "Wait, what do you mean you can't feel it?" He was a very perceptive man. By the look on her face he could tell that it was not simply about being tough.

Mila sighed. She wanted to sound patient even though she was tired of explaining it every time. "I was born like this. Doctors call it a sensory neuropathy. I don't have the sense of touch."

"At all?" Eric asked with his eyebrows raised, completely surprised. That was not what he was expecting her to say. Mila predicted his question and already knew where the conversation was going. Can't you feel any pain? Can't you feel when I touch your hand? Do you feel cold? Her condition was extremely rare, so she understood how people felt curious and had lots of questions, at the same time, though, she thought they were just selfish by asking her so many things. They never cared if she minded to answer. It was difficult for her to talk about it, especially after everything she'd been through because of this rare condition.

"At all." To her surprise, though, Eric seemed to feel the limit. He just nodded and did not talk about it anymore. Maybe he knew someone that had it too, or he himself had some other bad condition that made him sensible to what she has been going through. It was good. His attitude made her respect him a bit more.

They parked on a narrow street and walked to the suspect's car. No police was there when they were approaching the vehicle, which was really strange. Mila shivered as Christian showed up walking at their direction. The detectives looked at each other and hid behind the car next to Christian's. The criminal kept moving until Eric pointed the gun at him.

"Stop!" He said loud and clear. The killer turned his back on them and ran, but Eric was quick and just shot his shoulder. He fell scared and Mila could arrest him. Christian Bauer had been chased for almost a month. He had killed four women in Rhode Island and possibly two men in New York. His modus operandi was particular. The guy drained the victims completely while they were still alive. So, they died because of the loss of blood. The victims were always found in there apartments, so the investigators assumed he always carried his equipments to take the blood.

During the interrogation, Christian promptly confessed and did not show any regret. It was a very unique behavior. One Mila had never seen. She left the room disturbed while Eric kept on talking to him. She was not sure what else he had to say, but she needed to leave. At the end of the process, the killer was sent to a cell and at that very same night, he committed suicide.

"He was sick." Mila told Thomas and Eric as they left the cell. There were three people analyzing the scene, but there was not much to be done. They would look into the surveillance cameras and everything would be easily explained.

"At least he won't be killing anyone anymore." Thomas smiled, but both Mila and Eric noticed how exhausted he was. "I'll be in my office, there's still some reports I need to read. You, Mila, should hand me yours about the last event. I know you want to take your time, but I can't give you a lot of time. Two weeks."

"Two weeks." She repeated looking away. The young woman could still see Jonathan bleeding on the floor. She knew she did what she could, but it was not enough. She managed not to cry and sat on her desk. As she looked into the files, she had a feeling it was not over. There was a missing piece in that puzzle, but she could not tell what it was just yet.

...

"I know sometimes you can think I'm too protective towards Detective Dunham, but I would like to warn you about a condition she has." Thomas shut the door behind him and started a short conversation with Eric Northman. He had been trying to talk about it to him for a while, but they were always interrupted by something.

"She already told me about her sensory neuropathy." Eric guessed the subject. He did not consider it appropriate to talk about it with her boss. At least not without her own presence. He didn't like Thomas attitude.

Herz was actually relieved that he wouldn't have to have that conversation with detective Northman. "Oh, I should've imagined. It's just that she does not like to talk about it, and-" Thomas started to explain himself, but the Detective interrupted him.

"It's alright, boss. She is a big girl and I'm sure she can take care of herself." Eric didn't like how almost everybody in that Department treated Mila like she was made of glass. He considered her a quite talented Detective. She was young, but very capable of living her own life. She had been much more that he had expected her to be. That could be even dangerous to him.

"All I'm asking is for you to pay attention to her. Sometimes she hurts herself, she bleeds and she doesn't notice." Thomas was worried that Eric would not be as careful as Jonathan used to be. If Mila knew he was having that conversation with him, she would be absolutely pissed off, but it was necessary. At least in his opinion.

"You don't need to worry about it." Eric insisted and the conversation was over. When Thomas opened the door, they could see Mila was no longer sitting on her desk. The boss left to have a very late dinner and Eric met his partner next to the coffee machine. He stood next to her and she said with a severe tone. "What did you say to Christian Bauer after I left the interrogation?"

"I don't remember the exact words, but don't you have it recorded?" Eric didn't know, or didn't want to believe where she wanted to get. What she was trying to say?

"I have it, but at the end I saw that you whispered something to him. I could not get what you said. He was gazing into your eyes... I found it really creepy." She had her eyes narrowed and Eric wondered how she could be suspicious of him. Again he was surprised about how smart she was, that was definitely dangerous to him.

"I just said we were finished. I don't know, I really can't remember it, Mila." He answered as casually as he could, but he knew she was too smart to let that go. She nodded and changed the subject, but Eric knew it was not over. It was just the beginning.

**This is just a trial, so I don't know if I will keep writing this story. So far, I have 10 written chapters and some ideas. I am open to hearing your opinions! :) **


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The exception

"What the hell happened here?" Mila Dunham whispered as she entered the apartment holding her breath. The smell was really terrible. There were two dead bodies in the living room. One was a man sitting on the couch, the knife still on his chest. The second body was a woman, and her head had been almost cut off. The victim had a very deep cut on her neck.

When Mila and the investigation team finished collecting the evidences and taking the bodies it was around seven in the evening. The detective was asking herself why Eric Northman had not showed up yet. It was already time to leave the crime scene. She sat on her car and got scared to death after suddenly seeing that her partner was actually on the passenger seat.

"How the hell did you get in here?!" Mila said pressing her back against the door. She had both hands on her chest.

"I got your keys, you should be more careful with your stuff." Eric smiled at her and handed her the keys. Mila smiled back feeling totally lost. She had been keeping her keys in the pocket of her jacket the whole time, and had no idea that it could be possible to anyone to get them like he did. Despite all the confusion, she let it go eventually.

"So you really work only during night shifts, huh?" Mila was not happy that she had to do all the work on her own. He could at least help her a little more, arriving a bit earlier once in a while. Eric seemed to be really inflexible though.

"I do. I am always busy during the day." Dunham ignored him and then started to inform the absent partner about the murders, and they discussed some possible scenarios. Eric knew exactly what had happened, and it was really hard for him not to start working on his own immediately. That murdered couple had nothing to do with the case Eric was really interested in solving. He didn't know how much longer his patience would last.

The next days were busy. They both interrogated some suspects based on what they had found in the crime scene. Nothing very excited. Eric did mostly all the interrogation and Mila noticed that he could be quite persuasive. She always felt like he could get the truth from everyone all the time. It was really impressive. After interrogating the neighborhood it was not so difficult to find out what had happened.

One night they were at a Café – it became quite a habit of theirs, even though Mila would not understand why Eric never ate or drank anything – talking about the last interrogation. It turned out that the dead couple had been having troubles with the wrong neighbor. The guy got very sick and tired and just brutally killed them. Life was crazy those days. The guilty neighbor tried to escape but the police caught him trying to get out of the city. He had already a criminal record that showed up that he had some kind of mental illness. Now Mila was drinking a warm coffee next to Eric to celebrate the closed case.

"Are you thinking of Jonathan?" Eric suddenly asked. The detectives had been both laughing and having fun until Mila awkwardly stopped and stared seriously at a middle aged man sitting at another table. She just nodded and her temporary partner regretted his question. Now he did not know what else he should say. He'd never learned how to deal with people's feelings.

"He will be fine." Eric whispered and tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she just raised her own hand stopping him.

"Don't tell me that. You don't know it. He is in a coma and he might never wake up again." She tried to avoid, but her wet green eyes were already too obvious. Jonathan was doubtless her only true friend.

"I know what you are feeling. I've lost a partner two years ago in New York. I still think about him sometimes." If Eric were lying, he was a very good liar in Mila's opinion. She stared at him for a long time, then shook her head. Her silence bothered Eric and he couldn't understand why. He just wished he could know what she was thinking of at the moment.

Completely forgetting about her condition, Eric put his hand over hers and slightly squeezed it. Mila looked at their touching hands and pulled out hers, totally surprised. Her mouth fell open and she made an effort not to run back to the car. Instead, she just walked very fast trying not to look too awkward. "I need to go now." She whispered without making eye contact before going through the door. Eric promptly followed her equally confused. She was already on the passenger seat, waiting for him to drive. She looked very disturbed and he felt really lost. Had he done anything wrong? He had only held her hand, damn it, how was that such a big deal? Maybe her condition made her cold and distant as well. Eric couldn't tell anymore.

And that was exactly how Mila treated Eric during the next couple of days. Cold and distant. Eric wondered if she had thought that he was trying to get close to her in a personal way somehow, but he had only _held her hand_. He was so confused, and at the same time it was getting quite hard to work with her. He knew he would have to talk to her about it sooner or later, but he was postponing it every time. It was quite ironic for him, but he was afraid of her reaction. That brave Eric Northman was afraid of just a young woman.

...

After that night when Eric touched her hand, Mila felt really weird. In such a way she had never felt before. It was like her life had been changed forever. She did not know why that had happened, however, she was sure about what had happened. _She had felt Eric's hand_. For less than I second she hoped she was healed, but in fact she did not feel anything else. Only Eric's skin. _Why?_

Not knowing what that was supposed to mean, she got very disturbed and decided not to tell him or anyone else anything. However, that situation made her feel very uncomfortable in Eric's presence. Mila could see how lost and confused he was, but she would not tell him. She simply couldn't. She wondered what was so special about Eric, and how she was even able to feel him in the first place.

Mila Dunham thought about how her whole life had been difficult, how she had never felt a hug from her mother, and how she never really minded to touch her friends or to have a serious relationship with a man. She met her first and only boyfriend when she was sixteen years old and it lasted less than a week. It is not like she actually misses making out and having sex, because that was something she never really had. Mila wouldn't feel anything if she did anyway. However, it is something everybody does and talks about, which makes her very curious about how it might be. At the same time, she was also curious about everything else. How is it like to touch someone's hair? How does it feel to get wet by the rain? She had plenty of these questions in her head every single day.

At the moment Mila realized that she could feel Eric, she could not help thinking about dating him. She is an attractive girl, so she is asked out for dinner once in a while, but she always ends up politely declining the invitations. However, Eric was a handsome man, and she could feel him. It would be quite awkward, though, since they were partners at work. So at the end she decided that the best to do was to stay away and never even touch him again. Only after she had reflected about all those things, she finally felt ready to start treating him like she used to before feeling him. She just would never ever touch him. No matter how tempting that was.

...

Right when Eric Northman had finally made his decision and was ready to confront her partner's behavior, Mila started to treat him right again. The young detective just asked him to go to a bar with her, after treating him like shit the whole week. _Girls will be girls._ He thought. She had a couple of beers and was very irritated when Eric refused to drink with her. Mila was afraid she would get drunk alone, but fortunately it did not happen.

Their relation got better and better and the following two weeks were easy at the office. Their jobs were basically a pile of documents on their desk. Boring, but easy. One evening, however, Mila ran to Thomas' desk after his urgent call and Eric met them two minutes later. The boss sent them to a crime scene where a young man had been drained in his own apartment. A copy-cat? Dunham just hoped it to stop. It would be hard for her to investigate such crime again. It reminded her of Jonathan every time.

This time whoever did it had been much more careful. As Mila looked around, she was sure no one would find any evidence. No DNA, no footprints, no fingerprints, nothing at all. She left the scene and Eric tried to stop her.

"Where are you going, Mila?" His tone was like he was asking her if she were crazy.

"There is nothing in here for us, Eric. They won't find anything useful. We need to find out how this crime is connected to the others. Let the forensic guys do their job." Eric smiled at her and she frowned. They were thinking exactly the same thing. Eric drove them back to the Station and Mila spent the whole time making some phone calls. He did not know to whom she was talking to but it was definitely about the case. She demanded to check on some old evidences from the previous crimes. They would have a busy night.

When Mila locked herself in a room to study the evidences, Eric started to feel worried about what she might find out. She clearly didn't want him to see what she was doing, and that woman was not stupid, on the contrary, she was very much wise and smart. Eric would not manage to hide the truth from her for much longer. He needed to act alone, because if she ended up finding everything out, sooner or later he would have to make a very difficult choice. Eric Northman had killed people to protect his secret, would he have to kill Mila? She was a nice and brave young woman, and certainly did not deserve to die. And why did he care about her that anyway? His secret should be above everything. Period.

"Eric, can you take me somewhere?" A knock on his desk woke him up and he managed to fake a smile to his partner trying to look okay.

"Are you asking me out or I am now officially your driver?" Eric joked. Dunham just laughed and told him she needed to go to the first crime scene, the one where the first woman had been drained. Eric did not understand how it could help the case, since the crime had happened months ago. The victim's home was also a bit far from the Station, but he agreed to drive her there anyway. He needed to know what his partner was up to.

Eric opened the door for Mila like a true gentleman, and she chuckled poking his shoulder. That was when Eric realized she was not wearing her gloves. It was snowing outside, she could not walk around without her gloves. She would need them and he was afraid she had forgotten them at the Station.

"Mila, where are you gloves?" He asked just reminding her.

A deep shade of red automatically covered Mila's face. "Oh, huh..." She started to check her pockets. "In my backpack, I think." She put the pair of gloves inside the pocket of her jacket, and put her backpack on the back seat.

Noticing Mila was still a bit embarrassed, Eric spoke "I just had to ask, because-"

"Because you don't want to see my hands freezing, I get it. Thanks." She interrupted him looking in his eyes, but then just turned herself to the interesting window. Eric couldn't help laughing quietly at her answer. It was still interesting to him to meet someone with such condition. He had never met someone like her in his entire life.

When they got to their destination, instead of looking inside the aparment, Mila started to walk around the block. This time she didn't forget to wear her gloves.

"What are you doing?" Eric asked while he was following her around.

"There is nothing here." She mumbled almost just to herself.

"What?" Eric walked faster so that he could stand right in front of her, forcing her to stop walking.

"In the other scenes, I found tiny blood drops around the block. I think I showed you at that alley, Christian's last victim?" Eric nodded still not sure where she wanted to get.

"There are no blood drops here, though." Mila was frustrated but intrigued at the same time. How could she miss that? "I think this one was not a Christian's crime."

"Of course it was, he confessed everything, including this one." Eric knew that Mila was a good detective, but that was just not possible. She was wrong this time. He had to prove that she was wrong. She could not know that there were more than one perpetrator.

"Don't you feel it? Something is wrong!" She spoke louder than usual. Her nose and cheeks were red because of the cold. Although she didn't feel uncomfortable because of the low temperature, Eric made her walk back to the car.

"You can't prove anything because you _feel_ something is wrong." Eric started the car and turned on the heater. "That is not how the investigations work."

"The blood is missing, that is something." Mila would never give up on her theory, because she had had this feeling before. She _was _right. Last time she ignored her feeling, Jonathan got shot. He is in a coma now because of that.

"It is probably a coincidence, Mila. A long time has passed! Thomas will never accept this. I know you are smarter than that, so you know we need more." Eric was surprised that she had found such detail so fast. He was not expecting her to realize that there were more killers draining the blood. Eric needed to put his hands on the new murderer and get rid of him before Mila. He had to find the source and stop this problem for good. No more pretending.

They did not speak on their way to the next crime scene. Another drained body. This time the killer was moving much faster. Mila was afraid and Thomas was putting too much pressure on her. She only wanted to have Jonathan working with her back again. He used to understand her feelings. He had those feelings too. They would solve this together.


	3. Chapter 3

The truth behind

Christmas decoration everywhere, that was the first thing Mila noticed as she arrived to the Station. Some desks had little Christmas trees and other tiny decorations. She never put anything on her desk and never shared such spirit. She had gone to the hospital to check up on Jonathan that afternoon. He was still in a coma and would hardly ever wake up again.

Mila was still very suspicious about Christian's interrogation. She had seen Eric whisper something to him and, moments later, Christian had killed himself. It was not nice to suspect of your own partner, but something was not right. She didn't have any proof, which made things worse. To get rid of her doubts, she decided to watch another interrogation led by him back in New York. He interrogated his last suspect on the case of the drained bodies there. She watched the tape over and over in the evening right after arriving from the hospital, before Eric showed up. Mila thought that it would somehow clear things up, but, instead, it only made her even more suspicious. Apparently, after that interrogation, the suspect was considered innocent, but killed himself in the next morning anyway. The guy jumped from his own building.

Dunham didn't really know what to think, but she was having a very bad feeling. It was consuming her. When Thomas called her moments later, and gave her the address of the new suspect on the crimes, she decided to go there by herself. Mila lied to her own boss and told him she would call Eric herself, but she didn't. She went there alone. She didn't know why exactly, until she opened up the door of the apartment.

"_Eric?!_" Mila saw her partner standing next to a dead guy. Someone had broken his neck, and although she didn't want to believe it, deep inside she knew Eric was the one who had killed the man.

"What are you doing here?" Eric was surprised to see her there as well. She was supposed to call him, to go everywhere with him. That was what partners were supposed to do, unless she had found something that made her suspect on him. Eric stepped towards Mila and the woman instantly walked backwards. "Someone broke this guy's neck." He pointed at the body.

"This is a crime scene, you shouldn't be walking too close to the body, you know." Mila warned him carefully, she didn't want him to realize she was actually suspecting something. At that moment she just feared for her life.

"I know, I'm sorry, I had thought that maybe he was still alive." Eric was a good liar, but Mila was not stupid. She was not buying it at all and he knew that. He could even see how she wanted him to think that she was buying it. Was it time to finally confront her?

"You came here alone because you don't trust me." The man spoke again. They were now standing in front of each other. Mila was maybe twenty-five centimeters shorter than Eric and she had to look up to meet his eyes.

"You came here alone as well." Mila snapped promptly. Then, there was something in Eric's gaze that frightened her. She panicked and ran away from him, despite his loud protests. As she ran downstairs, he followed her, begging her to stop, but she did not even look back. She was now sure that she should never have trusted him. Maybe it was too late now. She was going to die that night.

"I'm calling for back up!" She shouted, trying to scare him and make him go away. Mila could not explain how he appeared so suddenly in front of her though. They were in a dark and narrow alley next to the building. She neither could pass through him nor turn back and run. Perfect place to be murdered, she thought. She put her hands on Eric's chest to stop herself, otherwise she would have bumped hard on him. He had appeared too suddenly.

Eric grabbed one of her arms and although she couldn't feel him because of the big warm jacket she was wearing, she knew he was holding it tightly. "You are not calling anyone, you will listen to me."

"You killed him, didn't you?" She spoke quietly, in fear. She could feel the adrenaline running through her veins, like she would be the next one to die. Eric was way bigger than her, and even though she was resistant to pain, there was no way she could fight him.

"I did." Her partner sharply confessed that he was guilty.

"Oh, fuck..." Mila whispered and put her free arm on her head. "If you just told me that, I'm guessing I'm next." Thinking of that, she strangely stopped trying to free herself.

Eric was nervous and impatient. "I don't want to kill you. Do as I say, and I will let you live." He felt her weak little arm trying to escape from his grip again. He had to take her to his apartment and then clean the mess that they had both done in that crime scene. No one else had to know what happened. "We don't have time. I'm sorry." Those were his last words before he knocked Mila out with a punch on her temple. He took her unconscious body to his apartment and tied her up on a chair. Although he was worried she might manage to escape, he also planned to clean the suspect's apartment very fast. Eric predicted she would probably still be unconscious when he got back to his place, since he used some chloroform afterwards to make her sleep again.

It was almost 10 p.m.. Mila opened her eyes a bit dizzy, it was like her muscles were not obeying her brain. She knew she had been knocked out by Eric, but she didn't have a headache, she just couldn't. She tried to move her hands over and over until she realized she was tied up to the chair. Then, she looked up and saw Eric sitting right in front of her. It made her unwittingly roll her eyes.

"You are pulling too hard, your hands are already bleeding." Eric was worried she would hurt her wrists, but he also understood how Mila was very scared and just trying to save her life. It was still interesting for Eric to see how she didn't feel the rope cutting her skin.

"Why do you care? You are a murderer!" Mila didn't actually scream, but as she listened to her own words, she started to cry. Her own partner, a murderer.

"Please, don't cry, Mila." Eric saw himself seriously begging her. "Just listen to me. Listen to me, there is something I need to tell you. Something you really need to know."

"Kill me, Eric!" Mila suddenly demanded. "I don't want to hear anything! I won't be part of this! I am not dirty!" She cried even more at the thought of becoming a dirty detective. Eric walked around her and she closed her eyes. Mila imagined he would shoot her head or cut her neck, but he just set her free, instead. However, she knew she was not supposed to leave. Eric wanted her there. She just stood up to face him, then.

"This case is much bigger than a serial killer and his copy cat." Mila had never heard him speak with such a deep voice.

"I know." She replied wiping her tears. _Time to calm down_, she thought.

"You have no idea." Eric insisted and she just asked "Why don't you tell me what you know? Why did you kill the suspect then?"

"It's not that simple." Eric was starting to seriously lose his patience. He understood that she had lots of questions, but what he was about to tell her was very difficult to comprehend. He was still not sure about why he was not going to kill her and end things for good. Mila had no idea that he had been struggling with himself since he met her, because he had been hiding lots of things from her and from everyone else for an eternity.

Mila started to cry again and he lost control. "Look, I can't tell anyone what I know, because..." He spoke out loud at first but then his voice started to fade away. The girl narrowed her eyes following his voice. "it involves supernatural matters." He finished almost embarrassed.

A big laugh filled the room. Mila just couldn't help it. What the hell was he talking about? Eric, on the other hand, had predicted many reactions from her, so he was not quite surprised. He waited her to stop laughing with the same serious face he had been wearing since she woke up. It didn't take too long for Mila to realize it was not a joke.

"Will you at least explain?" Now the young woman had a serious tone, although her lips were still a bit curved up.

"These humans that are draining blood are not just psychopaths. They are doing it because they are addicted." Eric was glad to see how she was still paying attention to him. "They are not killing human beings. They are draining vampires."

Eric was expecting to hear another big laugh. Instead, her partner's eyes widened and she just asked "Do you really expect me to believe in this fucking bullshit?"

"Yes, because I am not finished." The blond man got close to her and fixed his blue eyes in her. "I _am _a vampire, Mila. I hadn't been drained yet, and I want to prevent that from happening."

There was a moment of silence, when the Detectives spent about eight seconds staring at each other. "What?" Eric finally spoke. He was clueless about the woman's feelings.

"I was waiting for you to show me your fangs." Mila gave him a beautiful smile and looked around, searching for her jacket. It was time to leave. When she stepped towards the door, holding her things, Eric put himself on her way and showed her his long and sharp fangs. He even wore a very scary face expression to make the scene more dramatic.

"What the-" The girl dropped her jacket and stepped backwards, almost falling on his couch. This time it was Eric's turn to start laughing. He could feel Mila's heartbeat accelerate. It was fun, but he was also very nervous. The vampire had never revealed himself to a human before. Not without planning on killing him next. He still didn't know how he would handle this completely new and unexpected situation. Mila didn't like the way he laughed at her, but Eric just thought she should be grateful, since he had not killed her.

As he looked at his frightened partner, he quickly hid his fangs and walked towards her. She kept on stepping backwards, carefully staying away from him until her back hit the wall. "I can see that you are not planning on hurting me, but-" She whispered almost breathless "but I'm really very much scared of you right now, please stay away."

"I can't just stay away, Mila, this is serious. You are not allowed to tell _anyone _about that." He stopped trying to get close to her, suspecting that she might be in some kind of shock.

"Don't worry about it! I believe anyone would lock me up in a mental hospital if I said that I had met a vampire." Mila could no longer process anything. Why would a vampire become a detective anyway? Maybe he only was a detective to solve this case that he believed involved another vampire. And maybe he was doing it his way at the same time by killing suspects or criminals.

"Do you still don't want to know why I killed that man?" Eric didn't know why he wanted so badly to tell her everything about the case and about himself. He suspected that all this time he had been spending disguised as a human had made him finally want to mingle. Suddenly he felt tired of hiding and incredibly lonely. He felt like sharing what he knew and Mila seemed to be the right person to do so. When he met her and they spent weeks working together, going to Cafés etc., he just realized how beautiful and smart she was. He obviously did not fall in love with her, but he really enjoyed being around her. She was now one of the reasons why he needed to solve this case quickly.

"Will you tell me everything you know?" Her big green eyes were still widened and it was easy to tell she had been crying just by looking to her blushed face.

"You will know everything I know." Eric assured her. That conversation would probably last the entire night.

**I love to read your reviews! Please keep telling me what you think of the story. Since it's not over yet, I am looking forward to your suggestions :) **


End file.
